2/16/2012 @ 10:18AM9,552 views

The Tectonic Shift Of New Oil And Gas Technologies Has Only Just Begun

Carbon dioxide production remains a concern with these technologies. But it’s important to recognize that both CTL and GTL produce carbon dioxide in a pure, concentrated stream that is much easier to capture than carbon dioxide released through conventional coal or natural gas combustion.

Why weren’t plants like these built earlier? In large part the answer is pure economics: When crude oil was $20 a barrel, the capital costs of building these highly complex facilities were prohibitive. But once crude oil hits the $80 level – it’s now about $100 and projected to rise – the multi-billion dollar capital costs are more than justified. The combination of expensive oil and complex technologies have thus brought us into the age of “the fungible BTU,” in which we have unprecedented flexibility to choose among feedstocks.

The higher cost of energy feedstocks has also heightened the need for examination of the operation and optimization of major fuel consumers like industrial powerhouses, the power-generating plants within other plants, like refineries.

With industry consuming as much as 50 percent of the world’s delivered energy, powerhouses offer vast potential for reduced fuel cost and greenhouse gas production. But until recently, operators of these facilities found themselves wedded to conventional fossil fuels like coal and natural gas that offer stable BTU production per unit consumed. Switching to lower-cost renewable fuels was not considered a good option because fuels like food waste, wood chips or off-gases, with varying and unpredictable BTU levels, often led to unstable operations. Now, new technologies create a “hybrid” powerhouse that can seamlessly juggle among these renewable and conventional fuels. The results include reduced consumption of fossil fuels, reduced greenhouse emissions, and lower costs.

All of these fuel sources, and many more, are going to be needed to help the world meet its twin needs for energy and a healthy planet. But thanks to new technologies, we can extract far more energy from the major sources we’ve already or are now bringing to scale; we can conserve more of that energy; and we can do it all with less impact on the environment.

Alan Novak is Director of Alternative Energy for Emerson Process Management, an Emerson business that helps companies automate their production, processing, and distribution.

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